Kochi: In a shocking case of abandonment, a man has fled his rented home, leaving behind his eight-year-old son and around 26 high-breed dogs to starve in Kochi’s Tripunithura. The boy's mother, who works abroad, had to seek police assistance to rescue their son and place him with her parents. The dogs, reportedly without food or water for three days, have been taken into the care of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). 

The incident, which happened at Ayyamballichira Road in Illickapady ward of Tripunithura Municipality, unfolded after the man, Sudheesh S Kumar, vanished from his rented house on Sunday. 

It was three months ago that Sudheesh rented the house with his son, a class 4 student. He brought several high-breed dogs into the house, and neighbours began to complain to the municipality about the nuisance. The municipality issued a notice to the man regarding the complaints. 

Following the notice, the man abandoned the house on Sunday. When his father did not return by nightfall, the panicked son called his mother, who works in Germany. She promptly called the police at 112 for help, which was redirected to Hill Palace police. While the boy was safely handed over to his maternal grandparents in Cherthala by the police later in the night, the fate of the abandoned dogs remained uncertain. 

“We contacted the boy’s maternal grandparents after we received his mother’s call. We tried to contact his missing father, but he was not available. It is learnt that he fled from the house following some issues with his wife, who is currently separated from him. However, his brother said that he is still somewhere in Tripunithura. We have asked his brother to produce him before the police at the earliest, otherwise we will register a missing case,” Hill Palace police said. 

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, neighbours complained about the distressed cries of the hungry dogs and informed Councillor P B Satheesan, who then alerted the SPCA. T K Sajeev, the SPCA Ernakulam district secretary, said they will file a complaint against the man for abandoning the dogs, which are valued between ₹30,000 and ₹50,000 each. 

“When we arrived on the scene, we found a heartbreaking sight: a house full of valuable international breeds like Labradors, German Shepherds, and Siberian Huskies, all weak from lack of food and water. Three of the dogs were heavily pregnant and had to be rushed to a pet hospital for immediate care. All dogs are now safe at a dog shelter in Kochi. We will be filing a complaint against the man for the cruel act of abandonment,” Sajeev said.

Meanwhile, Satheesan said that the municipality had already served the notice to Sudheesh and the house owner on August 7 based on the complaint filed by the residents. “Residents allege that he is running an illegal dog breeding centre at the premises. There is no proper sewage treatment system, and residents were complaining,” Satheesan said.